Past, Present, or Future?
by Scarlet Hondae
Summary: 967 H.E. Tortall is in chaos, without a monarch, the Dominion Jewel and the Gods playing into lives, thieves and cutthroats and evil about. While the Nobles still remain, they refuse the Throne, for it is cursed. But is it hopeless, or is there hope...?
1. Information

Title: Past, Present, or Future

Title: Past, Present, or Future?

Author: Scarlet

Rating: Mature for Language

Disclaimer – Tortall belongs to Tamora Pierce. M'kay?

Short History:_ Alanna the Lioness. Queen Thayet the Peerless. The Whisper Man. The Wildmage. The Protector of the Small._ _King Jonathan IV. _

It's now 967 H.E in Tortall. Five centuries ago, the Old Empire Heroes passed on, from old age or sickness. The Conté line is still among us, but it has no power. For Tortall, after three hundred years of peace, is in chaos. No King or Queen has sat on the throne for more than a year since the fall of the royal Conté died out, in 737 H.E after Queen Lianne of Conté III was murdered in her bed, her daughter spirited off into the night, her King already dead in war. Queen Lianne III was the last known Conté in Tortall, and no other country or person now dares to enter Tortall… Something no one could foresee happened, by the will of the Gods, after Queen Lianne was murdered.

The Dominion Jewel vanished in form, but not in magic. Any foreign army or person that steps onto Tortall's land suffers a death of pain. No one knows why, only that only a true Conté could find the Jewel, much less use it. Which leaves us at our story, trying to find a Jewel, trying to become a Tortall of the past, a place of peace, not of murder, assassins and hate…But is History destined to repeat itself, or will failure finally destroy the country of Tortall?

_**Characters: **_

Danielle / Dani – 15 Years Old – Thief

Tyler / Ty – 17 Years Old – Mercenary

Jasson / Jas – 16 Years Old – Mage

Michael / Mike – 18 Years Old – Head Groom at Jewels Inn

Now, which is the Heir to the Conté line? Hmmm….Don't know. Why don't you tell me?


	2. Jaded

**_Chapter One:_** **_Jaded_**

_**A:N:**_ Okay, now, please, no flames when you review. Okay? And please review. I like reviews, and if you put in a vote on who you want to be the Heir, just tell me. I like people telling me they're ideas.

_**Discla**__**imer:**_ Tortall, Corus, and anything you recognize belongs to Tamora Pierce.

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A light snow drifted over the glass of the Jewels Inn, the place where the thieves closest to the King of the Rogue lived. Of course, there was no King now, since there could be no King of Thieves without a King or Queen of the whole nation of Tortall. It wasn't that there couldn't be a King among the Rogue, but every King of the Rogue had been starved, tortured, murdered or such like in a horrible manner, so no one dared to take the Throne of the Court of the Rogue. Instead, the normal thieves kept 'justice' themselves; making such the Rules of the Court were followed. An odd situation, but it worked. For the time being.

Of course, the Jewels Inn (once called the Dancing Dove but changed when new owners came) wasn't only the home of thieves. It was still an Inn, and Mistress Swiftknife (the last blood relative of the last decent King of the Rogue, which came from the line of Marek Swiftknife) wouldn't stand for it to only be used as a hole for thieves. She let others stay in the large house, and even had her own stables, in which Michael, called Mike, was head groom of. Of course, Mike never really did anything, and right now was no exception.

He lounged in a large chair next to the one at the head of the table in the inner most room, his feet on the thick oak of the table no one but the thieves used. And himself, of course. His tall frame fit the chair, though, and he looked like a thief, not a groom, and he was huge, so no one, not even Mistress Swiftknife, told him to move (except Em, but that was different). His brown hair was tousled, his light brown eyes laughing; he tilted his drink back, gulping down the rest.

"You know, one of these days, Marry is going to kick you out for not working." Em said, her own voice laughing from across from him. Em, short for Emily, was his sister, and a cook at the Inn.

She had identical brown eyes and brown hair, but was short and round, where her brother was tall and muscled. Also unlike her brother, she was kind and sweet, and gave hot bread to homeless children and hated stealing. While she lived in the Jewels Inn because it was the safest place in the Lower City, she didn't like it or understand it. In the Jewels Inn, no one died, no one stole and no one started fights. The thieves didn't like it, since it drew unwanted attention by the Guards.

No, Em didn't understand it at all. In her view, if you were a thief, you had no morals. You were her father all over again. Drunk, a wife-beater, with horrible breath and no morals, their father was a piece a work, and dead now. He was killed by the Guards when he pushed a Guard and made him fall on accident. Kevil had killed one of his children, and two wives, but by pushing a Guard, he was condemned to dead.

The world was sick indeed.

"Ah, but she wouldn't!" Mike said, winking at her, "The horses love me too much!"

Em rolled her eyes and opened her mouth to argue, only to be cut off by Marry Swiftknife, the Jewels Inn's owner. "Em! I need you in the kitchen! And where is that brother of your…There you are, Mike! Your needed in the stables! An entire group of mercenaries just came in, and they need help with the horses."

Mike sighed, and Em groaned, but they both got up. "See ya soon, Em. And be careful, don't get yourself in the eyes of one of the warriors."

With that last parting shot, Mike left his sister shouting curses at him, and made his way to the stables. And stopped as soon as he came to the courtyard. Seventeen horses, he counted in disbelief, two for each rider, with one seeming to be missing. Only two men stood holding the reins, eight to one, nine to the other. Shaking his head, he progressed, wondering where the other men went.

"Damn." He told them when he reached them a second later. "Must have been hell, trying to find a place for all these ponies." He scratched one absently.

"You have no idea," the tallest one said. About seventeen, he was Mike's height, and while slim, fully muscled. He had a hard look in his amber eyes, his long chocolate brown hair falling into his eyes. The rest of it was combed back into a ponytail, away from the shockingly handsome face. Untangling one course hand, the older one held it out and said, "Tyler; call me Ty, though." He paused, glancing at the younger man, which stood a half head shorter than he. "And this is Jas. He doesn't talk."

Jas was shorted, and defiantly younger, than Ty, and extremely different. He was pretty rather than handsome, with pale blond, almost white hair, and almost black eyes. It was an odd combination, on the young, scrawny boy, but it suited him, even at first glance. He radiated power; his aura almost snapped with it, than even Mike, with no magic, knew this boy was powerful. Deadly, even without the short sword strapped to his waist.

"Here." Mike held out both hands, and the reins were slapped into them. "And where's the other horse? Shouldn't there be two for everyone?"

Ty and Jas swapped glances, and again, Ty spoke. "That's why Jas and I are out here. See, this mare has…cargo. And we're here to keep her safe and to keep her to stay put."

Mike snorted. "If you put her in a stall and bolt it, she'll stay put."

Ty raised both eyebrows. "We already put her into a stall, both of them. And we weren't talking about the mare, we were talking about the girl."

Mike felt the blood drain from his face. "Wait. You have a girl in the stable? With a horse?"

"The girl is knocked out, and the mare is harmless. Both are safe, unless she wakes up. Just…go on with your duties, and ignore us, okay? I only mentioned it in case you opened the stall and saw them."

Mike sighed. There was nothing _he _could do about it. "Okay, fine." He started to the stables, clicking for the horses to follow.

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_**He's bluffing, **_Ty heard in his mind. Jason's voice rang in his mind though the communication spell, and Ty smothered a smile.

_Of course he is,_ Ty replied, using his own Gift. _He can't have four Aces, as I have one. _

_**Oh.**_ Jason replied, and shut up. Ty called the bluff, and Mike pushed over the bag of gold, muttering about the Gifted.

They were playing Cheat, a simple game, but fun one. It was the twentieth hand since dusk, since Mike had approached Ty and Jas and asked to join the game. They sat in the stable, Ty and Jas against the stall door that led to the mare and girl, and Mike sat across the way, loosing his money.

"I give. There is no way I am ever going to win." Mike said, mock angry, slamming his cards down with a grin.

"Ha! Told you so!" Ty said, and he had, before Mike had joined.

"Yes, yes. And now I lost all my coins trying to prove you wrong." Mike said good-naturedly. "Em will be pissed."

"Well, I would think so. I would be." Ty pointed out.

_**I don't know, he's kind of amusing, **_Jas said into Ty's mind. While the sixteen year old could speak, he didn't, since it hurt. He throat had been cut when he was younger, and he hadn't been taught to heal, so while the cut was shallow, it would always hurt to talk.

"Jas said you amuse him." Ty said, winking at Mike before taking a sip of beer.

"Glad I could amuse you, young Jason!" Mike said in fake gravity, slightly tipsy. Then he stood up and brushed off his pants. "Now if you excuse me, I must feed the horses you have brought me, young gentleman!"

Ty and Jas both rolled their eyes but got up as well. A second later, Ty said, "We'll help, since it's our band that the horses belong to."

"M'kay." Mike called from inside the feed room. A second later, he popped out, holding the bag of feed over his shoulder and three scoops in the other. Seting the bag down, he ripped it open, and showed them just how much they should use for a pre-dawn feeding.

Working his way down one of the sides, Mike popped open the top part of the stalls, pouring in the feed. Opening a middle one, he poured in the feed, reaching to stroke the mare's nose. Then he stopped, as he caught another pair of eyes. Not big brown horse eyes, or even cat eyes, but pale, ice blue human eyes that radiated hate and coldness. They peered from the dark corner of the stall, snapping pale blue fire.

Then something lunged at him from the darkness, and Mike yanked his hand back and stepped back himself, letting out a yelp. A girl stood in the stall, the lamplight and sparse moonlight falling over her. Her arms were pinned behind her, by a long, hard metal chain connected to a hook at the back of the stall. The mare pinned her ears and neighed, and a second later, he felt Ty and Jas by his side.

"I told you not to open it!" Ty growled, approaching the stall to close it. Carefully.

The girl lunged again, the chain jerking. Now he caught his first good glimpse of her. Her hair was wild and thick, in tight ridges of curls, all the way below the top part of the stall door. Her face was thin, but still stunning, a beauty, with large, thickly framed ice blue eyes. Her lips were ruby red and in a hateful scowl, her neck slender. That's where she ended.

"I had no idea that was where she was!" Mike protested as Jas glared at him with anger.

"We can't get too close. She's a killer." Jas said, and Mike blinked in surprise at his harsh, gravelly voice.

"Come on, girl. Just go back to sleep." Ty said smoothly, though anyone could see he himself was a bit hesitant to get close to her. "And I won't have to knock you out again."

"Killer?" Mike said, watching the girl and Ty, as he got closer.

"We were paid to bring her in. She's wanted for the murder of Lord Killen of King's Reach." Jas said, his voice still odd.

The second Ty reached around inside the stall to close the door, the girl's hands came from behind her back, and then three things happened at once. The door was kicked outward, Ty jerked backwards to his sword, and the girl bolted out of the stall, heading towards the exit of the stable.

Only to run into Jason, who, while shorter than Ty and Mike, was taller than the small, slender girl. He grabbed onto her forearms, under the dirty sleeves of the dress, and jerked her around. His arms wrapped around her waist and the other grabbed her wrists together. She struggled as Ty walked towards her as well, and her eyes widened, as he got closer. Then, when he was in range, she kicked. Her boot heels connected to his groin, then fell a second later to stomp on Jas's foot. His arms loosened with a yell, and she brought her foot up to kick him as well.

Mike stepped in front of her before she could bolt, but she just blinked at him. Then she darted around him, faster than his eyes could really follow. She would be gone before he turned around; he knew she would be, so instead he kneeled beside Ty and Jas. Ty was choking on curses, and Jas was in the fetal position.

"It was hell to catch her the first time; it'll be worse the second time." Ty growled about an hour later, as the sun was rising and the search parties were going out. Each had a guide from the city, and Mike was theirs.

"Who is she, anyways?" Mike asked after a moment of silence.

"A thief, named Danielle. She was accused of stealing from the Lord of King's Reach, and when he accused her…well, the next day, he was dead, with a knife in his heart. The last person to see him was the thief."

"But…did no one ask her if she did it?" The moment he asked, he knew it was stupid. A thief would lie. "Still, it's a big leap from stealing to killing. Usually a thief just moves from town to town, if he or she gets caught."

Jas shrugged as Ty said, "Well, we weren't paid to judge, just catch her. And that's what we're going to do. And this time, we won't let her go."

With that, he set out, his black stallion eating up the ground in a trot. Mike and Jas moved out behind him, their own horses golden and brown.

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She watched from the roof of the Inn, the wind whipping above her. It had been two days since she had escaped, and they were still looking for her. By now, she had changed, though. Her hair was golden blonde and straight as a board, and now to her shoulders. Her black curls had been replaced by dye and a cut, and she had straightened her hair with her Gift. She had loved her hair, but she couldn't keep it till she was gone.

Small, magic-made eyes slips made ice blue orbs dark brown, and she had lain in the sun all day yesterday, giving herself a nice, if slightly pink, skin tone. She could do nothing with the rest of her body, but from a distance, and if you hadn't seen her real well, you wouldn't know who she was.

As she scanned the ground below her, she couldn't help but think that Corus was a nice place, at lest in the run—down Tortall she lived in. Of course, thieves and assassins lived here as well as in Port Caynn, her old home, but there were also richer people here, and a semblance of order. Port Caynn wasn't like that; it was everyone for themselves, and no one helped each other for any reason.

Here, she had seen, everyone gave a helping hand, and knew each other. She had walked down the street at dawn, and dropped her water, and a man given her his water. It was so odd, since he didn't demand a price or try to murder or steal from her. She still shook her head at that foolishness; today, the present, was a time when it was every women and man for themselves, and she didn't understand how someone could just help another without payment.

Sighing, she rolled to her feet. As she stood, her stomach growled, and that cemented her thoughts. She would buy some food from the inn, since none of the damn mercenaries were in. No one would know who she was…

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Emily watched the young girl eat. The poor thing looked to weigh about forty pounds, with all that dirt on her making up five of the weight. Her stringy blonde hair fell over her plate, and her dark brown eyes sat in a lightly sunburned face. Pretty, Em thought, if dirty and a bit jaded. Okay, more than a bit.

Shaking her head, she thought again how the girl had reacted. Em had offered her free food, just this once, and the girl had watched her suspiciously. Funny and sad at the same time, how someone so young could think so badly of the world. Of course, thieves and prostitutes were the same way, but even they accepted free food without argument. This girl had said she didn't have any money and wasn't going to sell her body. Em had said, Good, now eat.

Heading back into the kitchen, Emily didn't see the girl finish and leave. Still, when the older women came back out, the blonde girl was gone, and her plate cleaned. It was like, without the plate, she had never been there…

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End file.
